Ning'ing

I've started getting back into Ning, social networking software that I think has enormous uses for education. I used to teach - preach might be a better way of putting it - about convergence in Intro to IT. The idea that five years ago we separate devices for cell phones, digital camera, dig audio players, Web, and video but now we can get them all on one device. Well, Ning brings convergence to social networking. In one place you can host videos, photos, discussions forums, and events.

I've been creating one for Wayne's GRAD697b class, Teaching with Technology. The class gets to social software in about 5 weeks so for now I've set up the site, started a couple discussion threads and uploaded a couple videos. Interestingly, James Morrison, editor-in-chief of the online journal Innovate, sent an email inviting past authors to check out the recently created Innovate-Ideagora Ning site. In a nutshell, the idea is to "enhance professional communication about using IT tools in education."

This term, ideagora, was new to me so I Goolged it and found "Ideagora, a Marketplace for Minds" by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams in a February 15, 2007, BusinessWeek special report. (uh oh, I'm behind the times) Tapscott and Williams talk about InnoCentive in the Ideagoras chapter of their book Wikinomics. (That's better. At least know of the book.)

Just going to Ning's homepage now I can see how it is the 2008 extension of usenet newsgroups. The homepage tends to feature different Ning social networks and you can easily see how these virtual birds-of-a-feather are drawn different topics. Say, here's one for me! Social Cigar "The ultimate social network for cigar aficionados and cigar enthusiasts. Featuring cigar reviews, cigar ratings, forum, photos, video, live chat, groups, and a lot of other cigar related content." There will be 2133 members in just a minute.